the debris of the houses which had been destroyed by the mines of
the engineers. Acres and acres were covered with splintered
walls and piles of brick which had once been a populous suburb.
Lanes had been driven through it and lanterns placed at the
corners with inscriptions to direct the wayfarer. The colonel
hurried onward until at last, after a long walk, we found our way
barred by a high grey wall which stretched right across our path.

Here behind a barricade lay our advance guard. The colonel led
me into a roofless house, and there I found two general officers,
a map stretched over a drum in front of them, they kneeling
beside it and examining it carefully by the light of a lantern.
The one with the clean-shaven face and the twisted neck was
Marshal Lannes, the other was General Razout, the head of the
engineers.

"Captain Gerard has volunteered to go," said the colonel.

Marshal Lannes rose from his knees and shook me by the hand.

"You are a brave man, sir," said he. "I have a present to make
to you," he added, handing me a very tiny glass tube. "It has
been specially prepared by Dr. Fardet. At the supreme moment you
have but to put it to your lips and you will be dead in an
instant."

This was a cheerful beginning. I will confess to you, my
friends, that a cold chill passed up my back and my hair rose
upon my head.